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When I broke my ankle three and a half months ago, the Mr. and I did quite the role reversal. For the first time since I was on bedrest when I was pregnant with our children, the Mr. was taking care of me…ensuring that every single need was filled.

Little did we know how quickly the tides would turn.

Now, it’s my turn to take care of him.

I’ve been leery of writing about this because I wanted to respect his privacy. I haven’t posted much on social media and only recently have begun alluding to his situation.

I’m sharing now in the hope that you will pray for him.

The day after I started driving again, he became extremely ill. He was so sick that he asked me to take him to the emergency room. I was just finishing up my first physical therapy session. I left, ran to the school to get things set up for my classes, and ran home to pick him up.

We wound up spending thirteen hours in the ER before he was admitted to the ICU.

He remained in the ICU for a week.

He was suffering from a serious complication of his Crohn’s Disease. He’s had Crohn’s for about thirty years. It gave him a fit during those early years, but he’d managed to keep it somewhat in check in recent times.

Or so we thought.

The first night in the ER was rough. We were told that he would have died if we hadn’t taken him in within the next day or two.

Talk about frightened!

The doctors also talked about doing surgery…immediately.

That got his mom and dad on the road. They joined us in the ER late that night, and we waited together for more tests.

His stay in the ICU was filled with ups and downs. I went back and forth between the hospital and home. I also made a couple of trips to school to get things situated. It was a day-by-day process. Surgery was a frequent topic of discussion, but by this time, the Mr. was ready to get out and see a specialist elsewhere.

That’s exactly what we did after he got out of the hospital, and he’s now under the care of an excellent surgeon at the Mayo Clinic.

Our first visit there didn’t give us great news. It was tough to listen to the doctor describe the long road to recovery. It’s a journey that will require much time. The surgeon is still in the process of assessing the Mr.’s health to formulate a definitive plan of action.

Meanwhile, we have been at the mercy of things that are completely out of our control.

It’s been a disconcerting thing to deal with…so frustrating when we go from having a decent day to a crap-awful one.

I returned to work a week and a half after tending to him, but my heart is pulled in different directions.

We both feel sucker-punched; the events of the last three-plus months surreal to say the least.

We are people who work. We are steady and fairly drama-free.

I think I have cried more during these last few months than I have my entire life put together.

Through all of this, we continue to trust God and thank Him for His provision. It has been so evident.

Many people are praying for us…me with my ankle and him with his plumbing.

We are a hot mess, let me tell you.

Our health issues have brought us closer, though. I saw a tender side of him that I didn’t know existed when he cared for me during my crisis.

I pray that he’s seeing the same from me now that it’s my turn to take care of him.

Will you join us as we continue to lift the Mr. up in prayer. Please pray for discernment for us, wisdom for the doctors, and healing so that things can get back to normal.

4 Responses

Just read your post about your husband. My 30 year old son suffered from severe ulcerative colitis and was in the hospital 3 times during 2016. They tried all of the different meds, the different biologic agents, etc. They finally removed his colon in January 2017. He now has a bag (and a sweet baby girl) and his life is much easier. I know with Crohn’s, it isn’t as simple as removing a colon. I will be praying for discernment for you and for the Mister. If you ever need to talk, please email me at Lelliott@trinitybirmingham.